People must be mobilized to protect their surroundings and to fight
disease while building a xiaokang society (one that is well-off
overall), Vice-Premier Li Lanqing said Monday in Beijing.
At
a teleconference on the country's national health campaign, Li said
priority should be given to disease prevention.
The conference was held to mark the campaign's 50th
anniversary.
The campaign should target the improvement of people's living
surroundings and their health, Li said. There should be a focus on
health care in rural areas, he added.
Li
said efforts should be made to solve heavyweight public health
problems, prevent and treat major diseases, and keep epidemics
under control when natural disasters occur.
He
stressed that HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment should be
strengthened and that information about HIV/AIDS preventing and
treating should be publicized.
Blood supply management should be tightened in the country, and
there should be a crackdown on the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Township communities and rural Communist Party branches should play
a full role in the campaign, Li said.
The management of public health care should be enhanced by
combining the efforts of professional health-care staff and the
general public.
Li
said science and technology should play an important role in the
national health campaign.
Staff from governmental departments covering epidemic-prevention
and medical treatment, scientific research institutions and
institutes of higher learning, should be organized to strengthen
the study of, and promote techniques and standards related to
issues such as waste management, pollution control, and street
cleaning.
Li
said no efforts should be spared in the dissemination of scientific
knowledge about health care so that the general public can learn
how to take care of their health.
Health education in schools should be strengthened so that students
do not develop unhealthy habits in childhood, said Li.
(China Daily December 17, 2002)